College Choices 2011, Early admission doesn't promise acceptance

Early decision vs. early action vs. early choice
Students with their hearts set on a particular school may wish to apply early decision or early action to college. Many colleges offer early deadlines that allow high-schoolers to submit applications as early as November of a student’s senior year.

Here’s how each of them work:

Early decision: Early decision deadlines are for applicants who know they have a first-choice school they’d like to attend. The student agrees to attend that college if accepted. Students can only apply to one college this way. (Students can still apply to other colleges through regular applications.)

Early action: Students submit their applications early without committing to a school. The student is not required to attend the school. Typically, students have until spring of their senior year to pick a college. Students can apply to more than one college.

Single choice early action: Deadlines are the same as an early action except they prohibit students from applying early action to any other schools. Students are free to apply regular admission to any number of colleges. Students have until the regular decision deadline to pick a college.

Warning: Early admission not for everyone

For students seeking financial aid, applying ED is not a good idea because this would eliminate your chances to compare financial aid packages and opportunities of different schools. If weighing offers is what you are really planning to do, then don’t risk being bound to a school with ED.

Early admission doesn’t promise acceptance

Submitted by National Association
for College Admission Counseling

Colleges and universities are seeing a growth in the number of early admission applications they receive.

Why are so many more students choosing to do this?

Some students are feeling the pressure to apply early, thinking that it will better their chances of getting accepted. However, it is important to recognize the level of “competition” in the early pool.

Students see higher early acceptance rates as compared to the school’s regular acceptance rates and think that it makes sense to apply early. The reality, though, is that often the students who are in the early pool are extremely talented—one of the reasons that colleges want to snap them up. Students are up against some of the best and brightest in the early pool.

And even if data tends to show colleges will accept a higher percentage of applicants applying under an early admission plan than during regular admission, this should not be the reason to choose to apply early.

“I don’t think that early decision is a bad policy, and for some students it is a great choice,” said Janet Rosier, an independent college admission consultant. “But clearly, it is not right for everyone; the new figures are going to make a lot of students feel pressured to use as early decision card. Somewhere. Anywhere.”

Though tempting, students should not apply early decision or under any other early admission plan just because they are convinced they’ll have a better shot at being accepted.

“I just don’t buy the idea that applying under an early plan is mandatory for every single senior,” says Sue Biemeret, postsecondary counselor at Adlai E. Stevenson High School, in another early admission blog post. “Applying early decision isn’t a trump card that the strategic senior plays in order to win the hand.”

Early decision is the right decision only if you are applying to the college that is right for you, the one that you would choose to attend no matter what. And even if you are applying early decision, be sure to keep up with your regular admission applications as a backup, so you won’t risk becoming overwhelmed right before those deadlines.

Applying early action is a great way to get applications turned in early, and still keep your options open in the spring. A benefit of early action is that by receiving acceptance decisions, you can get a good idea of where you stand in terms of acceptance into similar schools. This can help as you apply regular admission. However, you shouldn’t apply early at all if you need to show more of your senior year work to colleges to help your chances.

The college application process comes with enough pressure as it is. Completing college applications requires a large amount of work, so be aware that between the research, writing and follow-up, college applications can be the equivalent of taking an additional course. Doing it early means more work in a shorter period of time, which can impact course work and other activities.

While applying early can be beneficial, it should not be a reason to rush into a decision. Talk to your parents and counselor, research colleges and their application options and choose the admission plan that is the best fit for you.